Five Things You’ve Thought About Trying In The Last Month
Today, I’m going to use a journal prompt to guide the article.
It’s one of those days when I came close to having what is termed “writer’s block.”
This is rare for me, because typically something comes up to write about.
Resistance is more the challenge I face, particularly when the task is arduous.
Thus, I’m going to see where this journal prompt takes me.
What are five things I’ve thought about doing in the last month but haven’t?
One thing I notice immediately is that the items that come to mind are big, hairy, audacious goals. BHAGs, as Jim Collins calls them.
It’s hard for me to get excited about smaller, more immediate things.
Perhaps that’s a sign I should do more of those?
Nevertheless, these are the big things that came to mind as I write this article:
Going close to full-time nomad for a year.
Testing a different apartment complex in a new city.
Enrolling in a new college master’s program.
Decorating my home to stage it for sale.
Buying a second car, one for each of the two locations I use as my primary living hubs.
Now, the journal prompt tells you to pick one of them and do something about it today.
The prompt assumes that you haven’t done it for one of two reasons: either you didn’t have time, or you thought it was “silly.”
Let’s unpack these five items and see if that’s true.
What is really keeping me from doing them?
Going Full Nomad For A Year
On the one hand, it’s a timing issue. I have the test-apartment experiment going on right now.
It would feel wasteful to go live on the road, paying for hotels and overnight stays in addition to maintaining two residences.
And then there’s the question of why I even want to do it. I really don’t know, but it gives me a tinge of excitement to consider it.
Also, I’ve already gone nomad, in a way.
It’s great, but it’s also a challenge I haven’t figured out yet.
I don’t feel grounded in either of the two places where I’m currently living.
When I lean into that knowledge, it makes me feel anxious.
Going even more nomadic would amp up that feeling.
It seems there are only two reasons I have for doing this.
One would be for the experience and the “experimental” quality of the action.
It’s a “just because” kind of project, like writing daily blog articles for a year has been.
The other would be related to my second item: testing another apartment in a new city.
I would need to give up the idea of settling into one new location.
Instead, I’d basically assign a month or two to multiple locations.
Maybe that’s something I could do today.
Put together a short list of 12 places or fewer. Yes, that could help.
Testing A New Apartment In A New City
What’s keeping me from doing this?
Again, it’s a timing issue.
I just got to my Southeast city and am getting back into my routines here.
Trying to make this happen right now just doesn’t make sense.
What else is keeping me from doing it?
A lack of clarity about what I hope to accomplish.
A concern about the extra expense.
I think that’s it.
Truth be told, I also like my current living arrangements.
Do the candidate cities offer something better than these two places do?
Maybe that’s something I could do today:
take my short list of 12 cities from item #1 and think about what each one offers that would at least marginally improve my current situation.
Enrolling In A New Master’s Program
What’s keeping me from doing this?
Again, the journal prompt is correct. It’s a timing issue, but this one falls more into the “silly” category.
Dude, you already have multiple degrees.
Dude, you’re enrolled in a certification program that’s somewhat like a college program. What’s wrong with that?
Why would you subject yourself to the constraints and demands of a traditional curriculum for another degree?
These are great questions.
Here’s where the idea came from and why I’m even writing about it now.
I completed a PhD program in psychology.
When I enrolled in that program, I thought I’d be able to take master’s-level courses that would qualify me for some type of licensure to counsel people.
That didn’t work out as I’d hoped, so I abandoned the idea midstream.
Now I have time to focus just on that part of the goal, if I want to.
And lately, I’ve been considering tying it to a test of a new apartment in a new city.
Also, I’m enjoying embracing the “student” identity again. I figured, why not go all in?
You might meet a new set of friends and colleagues and really enjoy the experience of just being in college.
Plus, I always worked for a paycheck when I was in my other programs.
There would be “no job required” to fulfill the requirements this time.
Bottom line, this really isn’t about getting a master’s degree or not.
It’s more about where I live, who I interact with regularly, and my inability to give up a vocational calling that I can’t quite figure out how to manifest.
Maybe that’s something I can do today:
consider what to do about that itch that still seems to need a scratch.
Decorating My Home To Stage It For Sale
If you’ve been following real estate trends, you know there’s downward pressure on pricing in some markets.
It might be a good time to buy in another year or two, if not already, depending on the market you’re interested in.
It’s becoming less of a good time to put your house up for sale in several markets, though.
That’s a tricky part of real estate.
You either sell for less and buy again for less, or you try to decouple the two transactions.
You sell when it’s a seller’s market, then wait to buy until there’s a buyer’s market.
I missed the big seller’s market of 2021–2022.
Rats.
However, one thing I could do is purge my home of anything I no longer love and replace it with items I do love.
I could also address any lingering home maintenance or improvement projects.
Why would I do this?
This is the “silly” part of the answer.
I basically want to play with the idea behind that HGTV show Love It or List It.
If I made the changes I have in mind, would I love the place so much that I’d decide it was the one to keep?
That’s silly because it keeps me stuck in limbo land.
Should I stay or should I go, as The Clash used to put it?
Maybe today I could push myself to get out of Limbo Land on this.
What I know is that I won’t relinquish the place until I know exactly where I’m going to live instead.
And I’m just not there yet.
Buying A New Second Car
I think this happens every time I go to Costco.
They often have a fully loaded, beautiful sample car at the front of the store as you’re exiting.
Yesterday, it was an Acura SUV of some type.
It costs slightly more than I wanted to spend, but it’s affordable within my budget.
And if I did go ahead and buy a second car, I doubt I’d choose that model over a different make and model.
So I’d likely spend less.
Nevertheless, the idea pops into my head every time I see one of these vehicles.
This idea falls squarely into the “silly” bucket of the journal prompt.
I just don’t believe the convenience of having a car at both of my hubs is more beneficial than keeping my life simple.
And it’s funny, because part of the reason for getting a second car is the idea that it would simplify my travels back and forth between two locations.
Here’s an idea, dude.
Maybe you stop trying to live in multiple places.
Huh?
Nah, now that’s just crazy talk.